Outside Magazine article about the IconA5

thebruce

thebruce

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the Bruce
http://www.outsideonline.com/2080311/airplane-will-teach-you-love-flying

"In your standard Cessna, you’d be climbing for all you’re worth at this point, and were your engine to go out, you would plummet back to earth. But here in the A5, with the safety of water beneath us, we uneventfully leveled off at 100 feet to go soaring around the lake."

Apparently Cessnas plummet and Icons are entirely safe from engine out emergencies because water?
 
The shop where one of my brothers works is making some pieces and parts for Icon. I just emailed a link to this article to him.
 
If the author is a pilot, he should have his ticket revoked.
 
I'm a pilot because of an article about flying in Outside magazine. If I look back on it now, it was a pretty ridiculous article. But here I am nonetheless.
 
Sam D said:
I'm a pilot because of an article about flying in Outside magazine. If I look back on it now, it was a pretty ridiculous article. But here I am nonetheless.
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Yeah, but the article you read probably did not talk about the airplane that you would most likely fly plummeting to the ground.
 
It's a typical "flying jet ski, how cool is this" article and yea, it is cool - until you get to the part about it costing a quarter million dollars.
 
I like the "In a world populated almost exclusively by garage-built, cobbled-together light aircraft" statement.

Cheers
 
infotango said:
This is exactly the exposure ga needs. It gets non-pilots into aviation. Who cares if it trashes the 172? That thing is a pos that has done more to turn people away from flying than even the crumudions currently involved in aviation.
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Uh...really?
 
The author of the article had to sign a contract that, in exchange for the ride, he would only write good things about the Icon. Further, anyone who reads his article must also agree that Icon is the greatest aircraft ever built. Failure by the reader to abide by these conditions will cause the author to pay Icon the full value of their ride and ban them (both author and reader and their first-born) from ever owning one.
 
thebruce said:
around the lake."

Apparently Cessnas plummet and Icons are entirely safe from engine out emergencies because water?
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Being able to land on water or land does add a lot of engine out options, if you're flying in an area with lots of water. Unless your engine dies while you're "uneventfully leveled off at 100 feet to go soaring around the lake" and you just passed the edge of the lake when your engine dies, oops.
 
Yes, but if you land on water you still have problems. You have no engine and are going to be at the mercy of the wind, currents and tides. So it's still problematic. Depends on where you are. Somewhere like over a ton of small lakes (probably good) is different than over the inland passage up to Alaska (probably not so good). Helps to have a marine radio or be in cell phone coverage area.
 
Yeah but you won't flip over in the Icon like you might in a fixed gear airplane. Flipped over in water = bad news.

The Icon does indeed seem to be extremely safe. Stalling looks to be very mild and very hard to put into a spin. The descent is about the same as a parachute. You have an angle of attack indicator that is very helpful if used properly. You can get the Icon equipped with a parachute. Low energy and speed to land. You can land on water or land.

Looks to be one of the safest planes ever made, no?
 
Well this makes me look at outside mag in a diffrent light, kinda thinking based on this, all of their articles may be written with near zero knowledge of the subject.

As far as cessnas struggling to climb, I'd love to see how that snowmobile engine powered icon does against a 300+HP 185 with all the STOL goodies.


exncsurfer said:
Being able to land on water or land does add a lot of engine out options, if you're flying in an area with lots of water. Unless your engine dies while you're "uneventfully leveled off at 100 feet to go soaring around the lake" and you just passed the edge of the lake when your engine dies, oops.
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It's not that simple.

Landing in ruff water, like say the ocean, in anything short of a massive flying boat and you may have been better off trying to land something like a 172 in a farmers field.

Land in a small river or lake without doing a site survey, which you wouldn't be able to do dead stick, hit a deadhead or other half submerged junk and you're going to have a religious experience.

Landing on water is so dynamic, I can't think of any landings I've done without doing a good site survey, even in areas I frequent, if it's been more than a few hours I consider it suspect.


Silvaire said:
It's a typical "flying jet ski, how cool is this" article and yea, it is cool - until you get to the part about it costing a quarter million dollars.
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Flying jet ski?

Looks like a small 2 seat, standard issue configuration high wing, pusher style amphib to me.

You must ride some really weird jet skis?
 
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ETres said:
If the author is a pilot, he should have his ticket revoked.
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...looks like he is a pilot too, that just makes that article even worse.

"Author's Bio
travis-geske.jpg

Travis is a photojournalist, drone operator, and freshly-minted pilot. Like most other IndefinitelyWild contributors, he allegedly lives in Los Angeles, but can more often be found in far-flung corners of the globe, creating stunning photos and videos."
 
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Well, it says "freshly-minted" pilot, although I would expect that his instructor would have given him enough engine-out exercises for him to know that a Cessna with an engine failure doesn't "plummet" unless the pilot panics and stalls it.
 
ETres said:
If the author is a pilot, he should have his ticket revoked.
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James331 said:
...looks like he is a pilot too, that just makes that article even worse.

"Author's Bio
travis-geske.jpg

Travis is a photojournalist, drone operator, and freshly-minted pilot. Like most other IndefinitelyWild contributors, he allegedly lives in Los Angeles, but can more often be found in far-flung corners of the globe, creating stunning photos and videos."
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Palmpilot said:
Well, it says "freshly-minted" pilot, although I would expect that his instructor would have given him enough engine-out exercises for him to know that a Cessna with an engine failure doesn't "plummet" unless the pilot panics and stalls it.
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Travis, the freshly-minted pilot, probably won't last particularly long if darwin has anything to do with it.
 
infotango said:
This is exactly the exposure ga needs. It gets non-pilots into aviation. Who cares if it trashes the 172? That thing is a pos that has done more to turn people away from flying than even the crumudions currently involved in aviation.
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WTF are crumudions?
 
infotango said:
This is exactly the exposure ga needs. It gets non-pilots into aviation. Who cares if it trashes the 172? That thing is a pos that has done more to turn people away from flying than even the crumudions currently involved in aviation.
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When my spell check saw the word crumudions it almost crashed my computer! Seriously though, No interest in the Icon A5, it might be a rental for me to try it and fly around for awhile but IMO the novelty of it will wear out. I hope it does well and give GA the boost that it needs. It had quite a showing at Sun n Fun.

Palmpilot said:
Well, it says "freshly-minted" pilot, although I would expect that his instructor would have given him enough engine-out exercises for him to know that a Cessna with an engine failure doesn't "plummet" unless the pilot panics and stalls it.
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Exactly!! but a good marketer will "play" on what they think a person believes, Most non pilots believe that planes fall out of the sky.
 
Outside Magazine is Exactly their venue. Let's get a bunch of low time guys flying Amphibs and see what happens.
 
Curmudgeons....

I love this article. Yeah it's not my type of flying, and I'd never buy one but that's not the point. GA is rapidly shrinking. If this airplane with it's slick marketing gets even a few new pilots in the door it will be a massive success as far as I'm concerned.

When is the last time Outside magazine has featured a 172 or Piper?

I'm amazed at how much money is out there. Look at the marinas filled with rapidly depreciating million dollar boats, the RV parks filled with 250k RV's. I think it is great that aviation is tapping into some of that market, with similar marketing campaigns.

Now hopefully some of the new aviation converts will want to learn to fly a real aircraft, like a helicopter.
 
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Where are you living where there are marinas filled with multi million dollar yachts and planes are falling from the sky like lawn darts?

In my neck of the woods it's ski boats, bass boats, PWCs and small sailboats and the worst aircraft carnage I've seen was from a dingbat how decided securing his 172 with clothes lines before a windstorm was a good idea.
 
Just because you can't find a slip, doesn't mean they are all stocked with multi million dollar toys
 
James331 said:
...Flying jet ski?

Looks like a small 2 seat, standard issue configuration high wing, pusher style amphib to me.

You must ride some really weird jet skis?
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I'm talking about the promotional mindset of the Icon marketers. Have you seen an advertisement for the A5 yet that doesn't show it skimming over Lake Berryessa at 100 feet?
 
The front slopes do remind me of a Jet-ski
 
These guys have brought a brand new aircraft to market and all you curmudgeons can do is *****. Heaven forbid they actually try and sell some of the aircraft they've been building for the last decade.
 
It's not the plane I have a problem with. It's the idiot who wrote that article. Based on his "plummet to earth" take on the Cessna I'll take his opinion of the A5 with a grain of salt.
 
infotango said:
Curmudgeons....

I love this article. Yeah it's not my type of flying, and I'd never buy one but that's not the point. GA is rapidly shrinking. If this airplane with it's slick marketing gets even a few new pilots in the door it will be a massive success as far as I'm concerned.

When is the last time Outside magazine has featured a 172 or Piper?

I'm amazed at how much money is out there. Look at the marinas filled with rapidly depreciating million dollar boats, the RV parks filled with 250k RV's. I think it is great that aviation is tapping into some of that market, with similar marketing campaigns.

Now hopefully some of the new aviation converts will want to learn to fly a real aircraft, like a helicopter.
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GA is rapidly shrinking because for most, it is totally impractical. This aircraft, no matter how well marketed doesn't change that.
 
JohnAJohnson said:
GA is rapidly shrinking because for most, it is totally impractical. This aircraft, no matter how well marketed doesn't change that.
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So is eating red meat, drinking, or having children.
 
James331 said:
So is eating red meat, drinking, or having children.
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You might be in denial if you think there is really a comparison (for the majority of people). Most can afford and get a lot of enjoyment out of a nice steak and a beer. I can't disagree with you on kids, however :)
 
infotango said:
James,
Open moorage in any coastal city is nearly impossible to find.
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Yes, and the boats parked in those slips are mostly very expensive.

James331 said:
Where are you living where there are marinas filled with multi million dollar yachts and planes are falling from the sky like lawn darts?

In my neck of the woods it's ski boats, bass boats, PWCs and small sailboats and the worst aircraft carnage I've seen was from a dingbat how decided securing his 172 with clothes lines before a windstorm was a good idea.
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I think the point is that there IS money for recreational boating, flying, etc. But not so much from the existing GA community. Icon is not trying to sell their product to us, because many of us don't have the money or desire for their product (at that price, anyway). They are looking for new customers, new demographics. I agree with those that have said that any new aircraft manufacturing, including Icon, is a good thing. I would personally rather have a Supercub or 185 on floats for less money, but that's just me.
 
Yuck. I get that the audience is ignorant, but the Author, being a private pilot, is embellishing.. Granted, I doubt he had any choice.
 
edo2000 said:
.... I would personally rather have a Supercub or 185 on floats for less money, but that's just me.
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Buuuut the 185 is a Cessna and apparently 185s can't climb much beyond a hundred feet and fill fall from the sky if they loose power lol
 
James331 said:
Buuuut the 185 is a Cessna and apparently 185s can't climb much beyond a hundred feet and fill fall from the sky if they loose power lol
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And don't forget that they don't have parachutes either. Those Cessnas are death traps! :eek:
 
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